The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to embodiments of the claimed subject matter.
In conventional database systems, database users access data resources from one logical or relational database. A user of such a conventional system typically retrieves data from and stores data on the system using the user's own systems. A client device may remotely access one of a many of server systems, each of which may then, in turn, access such a conventional database system. Data retrieval from such conventional database systems may include a client or server issuing a query to the conventional database system which may, in response, process the request for information received via the query and return information to the requestor relevant to the request. Improving the speed, security, easy of use for both users and administrators, efficiency of system and network resources, and accuracy of data stored and retrieved have all been, and continue to be the focus and goal of administrators of conventional database systems.
Unfortunately, such conventional database systems exhibit many undesirable characteristics, such as processing queries and requests relatively slowly (e.g., when a large number of users simultaneously make a request of the same conventional database system), allow data access to unauthorized persons, become increasingly inefficient over time, waste network and system resources with overhead that does not contribute directly to the storage and processing of data, etc.
Various types of databases are also available, such as relational database models and non-relational database models, each having their own particular benefits and drawbacks. Unfortunately, database queries that simultaneously reference information from multiple data stores are highly inefficient and detract from benefits that may otherwise be derived from the implementation of multiple data stores of different types. Moreover, database queries that simultaneously reference distinct implementations of diverse database models may be wholly impracticable using previous database query mechanisms as conventional query engines lack the sophistication to communicate with diverse database types.